Liban M. Hussein ( so, Liibaan Xuseen, ar, ليبان حسين) (born in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

entrepreneur and businessman. He was a stakeholder in the

Al-Barakat Al-Barakat, or Al-Barakaat ( ar, البركات), which means "Blessings" in Arabic, is a group of companies established in 1987 in Somalia. The firm is involved in the modern form of ''hawala'', an informal value transfer system and remittance me ...

money transfer firm. In November 2001, Hussein was arrested at the request of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government, which accused him of supporting terrorism through the company. His assets were also frozen. Hussein was eventually exonerated of the charges and released, after a court found that neither the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP) nor the U.S.A authorities were able to provide any evidence of terrorist links.

CanWest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

, "Canada: Government pay out of court settlement to falsely accused "terrorist" suspect", October 2, 2003 In February 2012, all charges against the Al-Barakat Group of Companies were also dropped.

Businesses

Hussein ran two businesses in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. The first was a cleaning company, which he started to offer his family employment and improve their chances of successful immigration to Canada.Loome, Jeremy.

Ottawa Sun The ''Ottawa Sun'' is a daily newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It began publication in 1983 as the ''Ottawa Sunday Herald'', until it was acquired by (then) Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988. In Apri ...

, "Security legislation: a double-edged sword", September 12, 2005 The second was a ''

hawala Hawala or hewala ( ar, حِوالة , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a huge network of money b ...

'', a form of informal money transfer business, named ''Barakaat North America Inc.'' Hussein and his brother ran the latter business out of Dorchester,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Arrest

When it was announced that

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

was believed to have ties to the Somali money transfer service,

, which Hussein contracted, his brother was arrested in Boston. The cleaning

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

also revoked Hussein's license.

listed Al-Barakat as a terrorist entity, along with Hussein and his brother. The

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

also followed suit and labelled Hussein, his brother and their company as terrorists, without conducting its independent investigation. The

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

also listed Hussein as a terrorist and froze all his assets. Hussein went to the Ottawa police department, where he was arrested on November 7, 2001 by the

at the request of the

government. CBC,
Ottawa man wanted in U.S. arrested by RCMP
, November 12, 2001 A court later released him on bail, as no evidence of terrorist links had been produced. Hussein was later represented by

Michael Edelson Michael Edelson is a non-executive director of Manchester United F.C. He is an angel investor, venture capitalist and philanthropist who has been instrumental in creating numerous cash shell companies on both AIM and PLUS. As a result of these ...

.Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008.

Exoneration

On June 3, 2002, seven months after Hussein was originally listed as a terrorist, the Canadian government announced that it had been shown "no evidence" suggesting that he was linked to terrorism, and that charges would therefore be dropped.

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

,
Canada Halts Extradition Process, Liban Hussein De-Listed
, June 3, 2002 Hussein's name was subsequently removed from the Canadian list of individuals supporting terrorism, and later off of the American and United Nations lists as well, after the Canadian government sought his de-listing there.

Canada Gazette The ''Canada Gazette'' (french: Gazette du Canada) is the official government gazette of the Government of Canada. It was first published on October 2, 1841. While it originally published all acts of the Parliament of Canada, it later also publ ...

Part II
Vol. 136, No. 8, Extra
, June 4, 2002 The Civil Liberties Association of Ottawa was quoted in newspapers that "the government destroyed this man's life without a single shred of evidence". Hussein subsequently reached a monetary settlement with the Canadian government for an undisclosed amount, and has since remained out of the public eye. In February 2012, the charges against Al-Barakat were also dropped, and all 17 entities associated with the Al-Barakat Group of Companies were removed from the UN Security Council al-Qaida Sanctions Committee's list, including the Barakat Bank of Somalia, Al-Barakat Exchange and Barakat Telecommunications Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Liban Canadian Muslims Canadian businesspeople Somalian emigrants to Canada Living people Year of birth missing (living people)

Businesses

Arrest

Exoneration

See also

References